So it's summer here, sweet sweet summer! Between pottering around in the garden, beach days, catching up with friends and family oh and having another baby (best Christmas present ever)! I've been dreaming of ice cream.
I had a bowl full of egg yolks (from our chickens, worth there weight in gold) left after meringue making and a mountain of pistachios left after cookie baking. So I got to thinking....and came up with salted honey and pistachio ice cream......best idea of this year!
Too be honest I don't know if I love the ice cream or the pottery more? I got these sweet espresso cups and flower pot on our last trip to Melbourne. We always hit up Rose Street Markets and im so glad we did or I may never of discovered Urban Cartel, check out his etsy page (free shipping to Australia and NZ)
This recipe is just a basic vanilla ice cream custard base with some salted honey added mid way thru and some pistachios sprinkled over, really you could use any nuts, or omit them all together (this is not recommended).
At the moment I'm using my mother in laws sunbeam ice cream maker while I dream of my KitchenAid ice cream attachment bowl (have you seen them, they are awesome!)
I love scones, they are such a versatile easy breakfast option.
I could go sweet or savory, but my other half is savory ALL the way, so after a lengthy discussion (we're kind of obsessive about food) we settled on fresh oregano, parmesan and tomato, with some added local smoked pastrami in his half of the dough. I decided to bake them on our pizza stone, I loved the results. evenly browned bottoms with out the use of oil or baking paper, just a dusting of rice flour.
We enjoyed them with lashings of butter and a hot strong coffee (milk for the toddler).
The recipe is below, enjoy! X
Savory scones
1 cup buckwheat flour
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
5 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt and pepper
75g butter
1 cup of milk
handful of fresh herbs
1/2 cup grated chedder
1/4 cup grated parmesan
8 cherry tomatoes
pastrami (optional)
Preheat over to 200 C, place a pizza stone in the oven.
Place all the dry ingredients into a food processor, blend for 30 seconds to combine the flours.
Add the butter and blend until the mixture has a sandy texture (1-2 minutes).
Add the milk and blend until a dough ball forms in the food processor.
Place the dough into a large bowl and add the grated cheddar and half the herbs (pastrami if adding), mix by hand to combine.
Roll the dough into 10 evenly sized balls and place on the hot pizza stone or tray, Press half a tomato into each scone and sprinkle over remaining herbs and parmesan.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Chickpea crakers with oregano and parmesan. Gluten free
I'm having a bit of a love affair with my garden at the moment, I can't stop thinking about all the yummy things growing out there and how to incorporate them in to our daily meals. What to grow next, what grows well with what etc....
My oregano is cranking at the moment so I thought I'd sproose up a home staple, these chickpea crackers. I've been making them weekly for a while now and we have not tired of them yet!
Did you see my super cute vintage cookie cutter? Three dollars at a junk store, couldn't be happier!
These crackers are gluten free and omit the cheese and they are vegan and paleo too. I'm not paleo but know plenty of people that are so there you go!
Star cookies for the kids.
The recipe is below
Chickpea crackers
1 1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup of corn flour or potato starch
1/3 cup flaxseed meal
pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup rice bran oil
3/4 cup water
Topping ideas
herbs and parmesan, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, poppyseed etc….
Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl or food processor, mix until the ingredients are evenly combined.
Add the oil and water, mix until dough form.
Roll out the dough between two pieces of baking paper until 1cm thick. Remove the top sheet of baking paper. Sprinkle on your chosen toppings, enough to cover the crackers evenly. Place the baking paper on top of the dough and roll over with your rolling pin to squish the toppings into the dough.
I'm not even going to apologize for my most recent hiatus. As it turns out I am a really inconsistent blogger. I should of seen it coming, I never return phone calls and my cell phone (when I remember to take it out with me) is more like a over sized clock than any thing else.
I have however been spending a lot of time in the garden, preparing garden beds for spring, pulling out old tree stumps and building a chicken coop. Who ever said that pregnancy slows you down, clearly didn't have my energy.
(See the salad greens....I grew them....no big deal, just sayn)
So back to the pie, as it turns out I can tolerate spelt flour. I've been eating it once a week for 3 weeks with no side effects. I read somewhere that wheat is the inbred cousin of grains like spelt. And as spelt only contains one strand of gluten rather than two, it is easily digestible. Time will tell!
Spelt is a awesome grain to cook with, although we're still in experiment mode with the new flour blends, I've discovered that you can use 100% spelt in most recipes. I'm still using a blend, as I don't want to over do it just yet.
For all you kiwi readers I recently discovered a great online flour supplier called huckleberry farms. I've been to their store in Grey Lynn, but who can be bothered driving into the city when they don't have to, and with a $5 deliver fee it was a no brainier!
My local supermarket (New World) I can easliy spend $12 on a kilo of flour, so three types of flour minimum per week, it adds up. The same kilo of organic flour thru huckleberry farms is more than half the price! Check them out!
Any recommendations for organic grains please please let me know!
The recipe is below.
This post is part of the monthly link up party Our Growing Edge. This event aims to connect food bloggers and inspire us to try new things. This month is hosted by Marnelli from Sweets & Brains.
P.S I in no way recommend anyone with a ceoliac diagnosis experiment with spelt without the guidance of a qualified nutritionist.
Spelt pastry
3/4 cup spelt flour
1/4 buckwheat flour
1/2 cup potato starch
100g butter
2 Tbsp honey
1 free range egg
2-3 Tbsp chilled water
Place the flours into a food processor, add the butter and pulse until it has a sandy texture.
Add the honey and egg, mix for a minutes, and slowly add the water. A ball of dough should form in the food processor.
Tip the dough out on to a floured board and knead for a few minutes, place the dough into a bowl and cover with a plate, allow it to rest in the fridge for half an hour.
Filling
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 Tbsp water
1 cup organic blueberries
2 tbsp honey
Place the apples and the water into a saucepan, cook for 5 minutes or so, the apples should still be firm. Turn off the heat and add the blueberries. The remaining heat will start the cooking process for the blueberries.
When the apple and blueberries are cooled, take the dough out of the fridge, roll out 3/4 to 1 cm thick. Turn it into a small pie dish or cast iron skillet. Add the apple blueberry mix, drizzle over the honey.
Roll out the remaining pastry, big enough to cover the pie and place on top of the fruit. Brush with milk and sprinkle with raw sugar and cinnamon.
Every Sunday morning I head up to our local market to get our beautiful fresh organic produce, every week I try to buy something that scares me. This week it was fresh Turmeric, we have a good supply of the dried stuff but you really cant compare the two. It like comparing fresh and store bought powdered ginger, totally different flavors!
I decided to make a dressing for the hot pumpkin and sun dried tomato salad we ate that night for dinner.
It was amazing, fresh and zesty.
It goes really well on a salad sandwich, I'll post the bread recipe later.
I'm constantly looking for new granola bar recipes, they are such a great snack to have on hand. Especially if you happen to have small children or are pregnant, I happen to fall into each category, so these are a must!
I love these, they are no bake, held together by coconut oil and honey. They are also extremely adaptable (omit the nuts and replace with seeds?)!
The key ingredient is wholegrain rice flakes. I made them last week using gluten free oats, they were good but not great. The brown rice flakes give the bars a extra crunch (The recipe on the packet is not the recipe below).
The recipe is below.
Chewy granola bars
1 1/4 cup brown rice flakes
1 cup unsweetened threaded coconut (flakes work well to)
1/2 cup of chopped mixed nuts (I used almonds, hazelnuts, cashews)
1/2 cup mixed seeds (I used pumpkin, buckwheat grits, sunflower)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 Tbsp brown rice flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup mixed driend fruit (I used apricot and sultanas)
1 tsp vanilla essance
1/3 cup +1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup mixed black and white sesame seeds
Line a square baking pan with baking paper, sprinkle black and white sesame seeds on the bottom of the pan.
In a large bowl combine all ingredients except the oil, honey and vanilla essence. Mix to combine.
In a small saucepan place the oil and honey, place over a medium heat to melt the oil. Pour the oil and honey over the dry ingredients, add the vanilla and stir well.
Pour the mixture into the pan, press down firmly with the back of a spatula.
Refrigerate for at least 90 minutes before slicing.
The garden, a boy and some Multi grain crackers (gluten free)
Nine weeks since my last post, whoops, sorry about the brief hiatus.
This is where we have been spending a lot of our time.
We live in a lovely suburb of a busy city, were lucky enough to have a little garden at home. But being the budding gardener that I am, it wasn't enough space. So we joined our local community garden, and we love it!
At the moment the garden is full of brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, the broad beans are going well and will be ready by spring, baby carrots and radish are also going well.
The bees are back and were buzzing around in the sun, the last few times we've been there its been drizzling so the bees have been hiding inside the hive. There such amazing little creatures!
We spend at least two mornings a week there, dumping compost, weeding and feeding the chickens. If you have a community garden around you I strongly suggest popping in and checking it out.
Now onto the crackers. I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Elana's Pantry. She has a great selection of gluten free recipes, good news for all you paleo people too!
Here is a link to the original recipe, I adapted it slightly as I didn't have all the ingredients.
Gluten free Paleo Multigrain Crackers
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup walnut meal (or macadamia nut meal)
1 Tbsp coconut meal
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp sesame seeds (I used a mixture of black and white)
1 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp flax meal
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup water
Pulse the almond, walnut and coconut meal together.
Pulse in the seeds, flax meal and salt. Leave a little texture for crunch.
Pulse in the coconut oil and the water, a dough will form in the food processor.
Roll the dough out between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1/4 inch thick.
Place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Pre heat your oven to 150 C of 300 F.
Cut the crackers into 2 inch squares.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Some things just go together, beetroot and chocolate is one of those things. It is seriously delicious, fudgy, rich and an amazing color (goodbye red velvet cake and your whole bottle of coloring!)
All of a sudden winter is here, we have had a glorious summer and now it is time to get out your winter coats, start wearing that extra layer and make yourself some hot cocoa mix to get you thru the cooler months.
I love the cooler months, rugging up before stepping out on a wild wet day, wholesome winter foods, sleeping to the sound of rain. I love it all.
This recipe is simple, dark chocolate, cocoa, sugar, vanilla powder and corn starch. Have you ever read what goes in to some commercial hot chocolate powders? Thickeners, loads of sugars and sweeteners, hydrogenated coconut oil, palm oil, gelatin, artificial flavors (?), sodium.....I do not want a hot cup of that!
The full recipe is below
125 grams dark chocolate chips
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup raw sugar
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla powder
1 Tbsp corn starch
Place all the ingredients into a food processor, pulse until combined and all the chocolate chips are blended thru.
Place the hot chocolate powder into a air tight container, store in a dark cupboard for 1 month.
Place 1 Tbsp of the powder into a cup, pour over boiling water and some milk.
A while back I posted a hole (pun) heap of doughnut recipes for some test baking I did for a friend.
There was chocolate hazelnut, honey and pistachio, espresso and dark chocolate all of them baked not fried (kinda healthy?). The last doughnuts were cinnamon sugar, fried.
Cinnamon sugar doughnuts are the one thing that torment me (and most other coeliac's) the most, they are not readily available in stores, at every market or fair or car boot sale or (even) farmers market their cinnamon sugar scent wafts past me. Its distressing.
So I decided to do something about it, the result, amazing!
This post is a part of 'Our growing edge' a monthly blogging event created by Bunny. Eats. Design, check out the info here.
This month is hosted by 'Keeping up with the Holsby's' head over to check it out!
The recipe is below! X
Cinnamon sugar doughnuts
Adapted from Sweetsugarbean
2 Eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
3 heaped tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1.5 lt canola oil for frying.
In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar, cream and milk.
In a separate bowl sift the remaining dry ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, using a wooden spoon fold the ingredients together to form a soft dough.
Pat the dough onto a floured board and roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into doughnut shapes.
In a large pot, pour the oil, heat to 370F.
Drop the doughnuts into the oil carefully, about 3 at a time. CAREFULLY! Flip the doughnuts after a few minutes or when golden.
Place on a paper towel on a baking tray, toss the doughnuts you want to eat in cinnamon and sugar.
These freeze really well, don't sugar coat the ones your freezing!
New post up on Mama's style blog, almond apricot biscotti.
This is more than a little moreish, we devoured the whole lot in a matter of days! I love how versatile this recipe is too, swap out the ingredients as you like, cranberry and pistachio, triple chocolate, mixed fruit and cinnamon? The world is your oyster!
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